'I have lost everything'

At the height of her career, Tracy Edwards broke records, led the first all-female round-the-world crew, was named sportswoman of the year and received an MBE.

Today, she will almost certainly emerge from the High Court bankrupt. She has personal debts of more than £8 million and is expecting to lose the £1 million home she shares with her daughter and mother in Berkshire.

She held her head in her hands and wiped away tears as she told The Daily Telegraph how things went so badly wrong for her.

Miss Edwards, 43 today, gave up sailing five years ago after becoming a single mother and the following year bought a 110ft catamaran for £2.1 million. She borrowed money to buy the boat, called Maiden II, which she intended to repay by finding sponsors.

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A deal proved elusive, and at the start of 2003 Miss Edwards went to Qatar in search of funding and met Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani, now the Crown Prince. She says she was persuaded to organise two round-the-world races in the Gulf state, which was attempting to attract sporting events. The events were backed by Qatar Sports International, the commercial arm of the Qatar National Olympic Committee.

In October that year the two races, to be held in 2005 and 2006, were announced as £38 million ventures in a blaze of publicity and a photocall with the Duke of York.

However, behind the scenes the financial situation was less rosy. Sponsorship deals fell away before they were signed time and again.

By July last year, four boats had signed up to take part in the first race, due to start in February this year, but the only money raised was £3 million from HSBC, far short of the sum Miss Edwards said she needed to stage the race.

She said: "We were working 16-hour days, seven days a week and had so much thrown at us, but still battled through. My team and I put 150 per cent into it, we were totally committed."

By December 2004, with just six weeks to go before the race, Miss Edwards took out a personal loan of £6.5 million, with the Qatar National Olympic Committee as a guarantor, and secured against her house and boat. She used half the money to pay off her previous debts, which by then were owed to 72 creditors. These included the crew of her boat, who had worked unpaid for up to two years.

The other half was to get the four boats to the start line. The following month she borrowed a further £1.65 million from the Qatar National Olympic Committee to pay for the race. By the time the two-month event began this February, a race village and marina had been built, but no other sponsorship had been forthcoming.

Two of the boats ran into difficulties and pulled out during the race but the others, Miss Edwards's own boat - by then named Qatar 2006 and skippered by Brian Thompson - and another skippered by the veteran racer Tony Bullimore, completed. A prizegiving ceremony was held in June, but no money was handed over.

Miss Edwards claimed that this was because £1.7 million in sponsorship promised by Qatar Sports International was never paid. However, a contract had not been signed with the organisation.

After the race, Miss Edwards returned to Britain and put her company, Quest, into administration with debts of £1.2 million. Plans for the 2006 race were abandoned.

She returned to Qatar, expecting to stay for four days, in July, because a businessman from whom she had rented office space and who had sponsored her visa said he was in financial trouble because he was owed money.

She was unaware, however, that he had obtained a court order preventing her from leaving Qatar. Although Miss Edwards claimed that the debt was a company one, and not a personal debt, she was unable to obtain an exit visa for four weeks.

She said: "I was there for a month without my daughter, which nearly killed me. I couldn't speak to my daughter on the phone for the first 10 days because I would have lost the plot completely.

"I've tried to keep as much as I can from my mother and my daughter. My daughter is traumatised and has nightmares. She has gone back to sleeping in my bed and if she can't see me she carries around a photograph of me."

Meanwhile, the former financial director of Quest, Gregory Browne, who was dismissed last year, has brought a bankruptcy petition for about £60,000 from his acrimonious split with Miss Edwards.

Miss Edwards has accepted she is unable to fight the bankruptcy proceedings, which will be heard today in the High Court. She has also accepted she is likely to lose her home as she has no money to repay her mortgage and has such a large loan secured against it.

Miss Edwards said: "I have lost everything.

"I did take a big gamble but everyone knows I'm a gambler. I put my own money in first. No one put a gun to anyone's head to make them put up money, and no one made the crew work for me. The reason we are in this mess is that we have been thrown every single curve ball over the past two years.

"If you believe in something and want to make it happen, you have to risk everything. Most people who lend me money or work for me know the risk they are taking."

Miss Edwards came into sailing by an unconventional route. Her father died when she was young and her mother travelled the world as a ballet dancer.

She was expelled from school at 15, and began sailing as an on-board cook. She went on to skipper the first all female round-the-world crew in 1989.

She married twice but neither relationship lasted more than 18 months. Neither of her former husbands is the father of her child.

Alongside her sailing business, she works as a motivational speaker and before moving to Qatar was earning about £200,000 from engagements. She is now planning to write a book about her experiences in Qatar, continue with the motivational talks and look for a flat to rent in London.

As recently as late July she was meeting potential sponsors for a new project, but has decided to leave others in her team to work on events while she concentrates on sorting out her problems.

Miss Edwards divides opinion among those who know her. Many people within the sailing world remain fiercely loyal to her, but her relations with others have soured, and on several occasions have ended in court. She has been involved in at least five separate court battles in the past two years.

Her cousin, Greg Bint, who worked for Quest running the education part of the race from October 2004, described her as an "amazing, courageous, generous person".

"We have all been happy to work at times for nothing, as have a majority of our suppliers, because we all wanted to make our vision into a reality. "

However, Mr Browne said: "She has made no effort whatsoever to engender any form of good will in seeking a resolution to this matter outside of the High Court."

John Taylor, the chairman of Sports Impact, which organised the launch of the Qatar project in 2003, was the first to take legal action last year against Miss Edwards over debts. He has recovered some money, but claims he is still owed about £50,000. A High Court order awarded £18,000 from Quest in July as the firm was put into administration.

Mr Taylor said: "The only reason we have kept this going is we were fed up with being ignored and fobbed off. Our concern is that the sport of ocean racing has been damaged and people are reluctant to get involved because of the actions of one person."

Mark Wilson, who worked as Miss Edwards's commercial manager for 18 months, is owed £166,000 from a High Court judgment in July for interest on a loan, expenses and salary. He said he will continue to pursue payment for "as long as it takes".